ATLANTA (AP) -- Slava Kozlov knows the Atlanta Thrashers have

little room for error as they try for a first playoff appearance.

"Every game is big for us," Kozlov said. "Two points or one

point, at the end of the season, those points are going to be

important to us."

Kozlov scored the lone goal in the shootout to help Atlanta beat

the Florida Panthers 4-3 Monday night.

Marian Hossa added a goal and an assist for the Thrashers, who

won their second straight game. Atlanta has won six of its last

eight to hold onto ninth place in the Eastern Conference, three

points behind Montreal, which lost 5-4 in a shootout at

Philadelphia.

Kozlov, who gave the Thrashers' their last shootout win Feb. 11

at Montreal, beat goaltender Roberto Luongo with a glove-side

wrister.

Olli Jokinen scored his 28th and 29th goals and had an assist

for the Panthers, who have lost three straight and now are 8-22-4

on the road.

"If anybody quits, they're going to hear about it in this

dressing room," Florida center Chris Gratton said. "We're

professionals. We're paid to be professionals, and your job is to

come here and give 110 percent every night."

Kari Lehtonen had four of his 40 saves in overtime, the best

coming when he dropped to stop Jokinen's wrister with his right leg

pad.

"He's tough to beat," Jokinen said. "There's not much room

down low. If you shoot high, it goes over the net. You just have to

spot the puck in the right place."

Lehtonen felt more relief than satisfaction.

"I almost gave him a goal in overtime," Lehtonen said. "I

think we played well. A couple of goals, we were a little lucky."

Luongo saved 31 of 34 shots, including two in overtime.

Brad Larsen's short-handed goal gave the Thrashers a 3-2 lead

with 16:28 left in regulation. Hossa was largely responsible, as he

made a one-handed pass to himself off the left boards to beat

Jokinen.

After Hossa's wrister bounced off Luongo's skate and off to the

right side of the slot, Larsen beat the goalie glove side.

Jokinen tied it at 3-all with 5:01 remaining. A poor decision by

Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk, who abandoned the middle to pursue the

puck, allowed Jozef Stumpel to pass from the right circle to a

wide-open Jokinen beneath the left circle.

"We have to play better," Kozlov said. "We made some mistakes

when we had the lead. Fortunately, it did not cost us tonight. We

have to play better defensively when we have the lead."

Greg de Vries gave the Thrashers a 1-0 lead with his seventh

goal, a slap shot from the top of the slot 2:48 into the first.

Jokinen, the subject of trade talk as the NHL faces a 3 p.m.

Thursday deadline, tied it at 1-all with a slap shot from the point

outside the left circle.

"We bounced back," Jokinen said. "We got a lot of chances.

It's a disappointing way to lose a game."

Hossa's 30th goal gave the Thrashers a 2-1 lead at the 14:29

mark of the first period.

Martin Gelinas burst from the penalty box midway through the

second to force a 2-all tie. Just six seconds after leaving the

penalty box, Gelinas was ready to take Gratton's pass over the blue

line, but the puck took an advantageous bounce off the skate of

Atlanta defenseman Andy Sutton.

Gelinas beat Lehtonen on a breakaway for his 12th goal.

"I can't blame the effort tonight," Panthers coach Jacques

Martin said. "We played hard and probably deserved a better fate.

We're on the road. We did some good things, and they capitalized on

some mistakes, and that cost us tremendous effort."Game notes
In six games against Atlanta this season, Jokinen has seven

points, including a career-tying, three-assist performance in the

Thrashers' 6-4 win Feb. 4. ... Lehtonen had a broken stick on

Gelinas' goal. ... Atlanta has won three straight shootouts.